Popular music education in and for itself, and for 'other' music: current research in the classroom

This article considers some ways in which the school classroom enters into, changes and complicates musical meanings, focussing particularly on the role of popular music and how it relates to classical music. I suggest that in bringing popular music into the curriculum, educators have largely ignored the informal learning practices of popular musicians. Popular music has therefore been present as curriculum content, but its presence has only recently begun to affect our teaching strategies. I examine how the adaptation of some informal popular music learning practices for classroom use can positively affect pupils’ musical meanings and experiences. This applies not only to the sphere of popular music, but also to classical music and, by implication, other musics as well. Finally, the notions of musical autonomy, personal autonomy and musical authenticity in relation to musical meaning and informal learning practices within the classroom are discussed

The Latin Music Database

In this paper we present the Latin Music Database, a novel database of Latin musical recordings which has been developed for automatic music genre classification, but can also be used in other music information retrieval tasks. The method for assigning genres to the musical recordings is based on human expert perception and therefore capture their tacit knowledge in the genre labeling process. We also present the ethnomusicology of the genres available in the database as it might provide important information for the analysis of the results of any experiment that employs the database

Interactively exploring supply and demand in the UK independent music scene

We present an exploratory data mining tool useful for finding patterns in the geographic distribution of independent UK-based music artists. Our system is interactive, highly intuitive, and entirely browser-based, meaning it can be used without any additional software installations from any device. The target audiences are artists, other music professionals, and the general public. Potential uses of our software include highlighting discrepancies in supply and demand of specific music genres in different parts of the country, and identifying at a glance which areas have the highest densities of independent music artists

Supporting creative composition: the FrameWorks approach

We present a new system for music composition using structured sequences. FrameWorks has been developed on the basis of Task Analysis research studying composition processes and other user-centred design techniques. While the program only uses MIDI information, it can be seen as a ‘proof of concept’ for ideas generally applicable to the specification and manipulation of other music control data, be it raw audio, music notation or synthesis parameters. While this first implementation illustrates the basic premise, it already provides composers with an interesting and simple to use environment for exploring and testing musical ideas. Future research will develop the concept, in particular to enhance the scalability of the system

Young Children’s Behaviors During Favorite-Music Repertoire And Other-Music Repertoire

To gain understanding regarding early childhood music repertoire selection, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine young children’s music behaviors demonstrated in response to their favorite-music repertoire and other-music repertoire performed in informal early childhood music classes. My guiding research questions were (a) what was the favorite-music repertoire of young children, and (b) what did parents, Alli (an early childhood music teacher), Kat (an early childhood music teacher), and I notice about behaviors young children demonstrated during performances of their favorite-music repertoire and other-music repertoire during our informal music classes? I purposefully sampled three young children and asked their parents, my coteacher and another early childhood music teacher to participate as observers. I participated as a complete participant observer. My co-teacher and I facilitated 10 weeks of Music Play classes based on Gordon’s (2013) Music Learning Theory for Newborn and Young Children and Valerio, Reynolds, Taggart, Bolton, & Gordon’s (1998) Music Play. I gathered data from parent questionnaires, video-recorded Music Play classes, written observations and reflections, audio-recorded individual think-aloud interviews. I transcribed all data for subsequent analysis. I coded that data and created a taxonomic analysis to organize cultural domains. Three themes emerged. Young children repeatedly demonstrated specific patterns from their favorite-music repertoire. Young children demonstrated related behaviors during favorite music and other music. Young children demonstrated unrelated behaviors during favorite music and other music. I provide preliminary definitions and thick, rich descriptions of the behaviors young children demonstrated during favorite-music repertoire and other-music repertoire. Though I may not make generalizations based on this study, childhood music teachers may consider selecting young children’s favoritemusic repertoire to elicit young children’s rhythm pattern behaviors and tonal pattern behaviors that may provide the basis for increased young children’s rhythm pattern and tonal pattern vocabulary development and learning or to engage young children’s positive emotions during music classes

An investigation of the role of background music in IVWs for learning

Empirical evidence is needed to corroborate the intuitions of gamers and game developers in understanding the benefits of Immersive Virtual Worlds (IVWs) as a learning environment and the role that music plays within these environments. We report an investigation to determine if background music of the genre typically found in computer‐based role‐playing games has an effect on learning in a computer‐animated history lesson about the Macquarie Lighthouse within an IVW. In Experiment 1, music stimuli were created from four different computer game soundtracks. Seventy‐two undergraduate students watched the presentation and completed a survey including biographical details, questions on the historical material presented and questions relating to their perceived level of immersion. While the tempo and pitch of the music was unrelated to learning, music conditions resulted in a higher number of accurately remembered facts than the no music condition. One soundtrack showed a statistically significant improvement in memorisation of facts over other music conditions. Also an interaction between the levels of perceived immersion and ability to accurately remember facts was observed. Experiment 2, involving 48 undergraduate students, further investigated the effect of music, sense of immersion and how different display systems affect memory for facts

Goal-oriented processes: Exploring the use of goals in music therapy to support young people with autism spectrum disorder : An exegesis submitted to Massey University and Victoria University of Wellington in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music Therapy Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music

This qualitative research project explored how a student music therapist utilised goal-oriented processes to support young people with autism spectrum disorder throughout their course of music therapy. Inductive thematic analysis of selected literature relating to goals in music therapy developed an initial framework of what goal-oriented processes could include. The student music therapist’s clinical data (including session notes, monitoring sheets, client reports and reflective journal entries) was then coded through deductive secondary analysis, from which five key themes were formed. The findings indicated that clients’ goals were supported by: employing a client-centred philosophical approach; nurturing therapeutic relationships; collaborating with clients and their caregivers; utilising the referral, assessment and review processes; and observing and documenting clients’ development. These goal-oriented processes helped to support goals that were meaningful for the clients and their caregivers. Themes were explored in detail using a case vignette to illustrate and provide a context for the findings. Although the context-bound qualitative nature of this research project limits its generalisability, it attempts to provide insight into what goal-oriented processes in music therapy might include, encouraging other music therapists to consider how they utilise goals in their own practice